Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Media Blackout: The Answers

Hello everyone. As promised, I am giving you the answers to last week's Six Minute English quiz:

1. (Official question) How many active Facebook users are there in the world? (b) 500 million

2. How did the experiment work? Student volunteers had to "unplug" their phones, laptops and TVs for 24 hours. And they weren't allowed to listen to the radio or read newspapers.3. How have the volunteers reacted? Charlotte says, "It's really difficult".4. How has the experiment affected the volunteers' mental well-being? They are experiencing withdrawal symptoms and overeating. And they are feeling nervous, isolated* and disconnected.

5. Student volunteer Caroline Scott says it is quite nice to be "totally separated" for about two hours maximum.

Thanks very much to those people who answered the questions. Congratulations to Domenico who posted his answers in a comment and got the answers right.I am planning to changing the format of the quiz. Instead asking you to insert words in spaces, I will ask you to give any answer which reflects the ideas being expressed. This is a more flexible way of answering the quiz.So watch out for the next Six Minute English. I propose to look at the question, "Are men really the weaker sex?"Meanwhile in my next post, I'll indicate Web sites to help you practise the grammar and vocabulary we have been examining in our recent lessons. As always, do check out Michael Marzio's "Real English" for listening comprehension. Try some of the other sites too: you can find them in the appropriate section down the right-hand column.More very soon!Have a good day,Mike